Good Deeds

Brad Pitt 'High' From New Orleans Rebuilding Project

By Katie Kelly

12/01/2008 at 01:40 PM EST

With his Make It Right project making good in helping the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Brad Pitt is cheered by the number of architects, residents and community leaders who have joined the rebuilding process.

"I never had any idea that so many people would show up for this," Pitt, 44, tells Architectural Digest for its January issue. "The model works and it's replicable."

The Make It Right Foundation's goal is to build 150 new homes for residents in the area among those hit hardest during the 2005 hurricane. So far, six homes have been constructed.

"We've cracked something here … these houses redefine affordable housing," says Pitt. "This is a proving ground for a bigger idea that could work globally."

Throughout the past year, the foundation has continued to assist victims of the hurricane in regaining a sense of normality – and a sense of home. Pitt also got hands-on himself, helping hurricane victim Gloria Guy and her family move into their new home.

"You have no idea what a high it is for me to see the delight on people's faces when they see how these homes work," he says.

"This project is not mine anymore. It's so beyond me."

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